Olivia Mitas’ Post

I can't believe it has been 2 years since passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. While we have much more work to do to improve mobility and modernize infrastructure, I think we should be proud of what has been accomplished to-date: Nearly $400 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding has gone to over 40,000 specific projects and awards, across over 4,500 communities in all 50 states, D.C the territories, and for Tribes. Key Takeaways: - The increase in state and local capital investment as a share of GDP over the past two years is the largest since 1979. Even though infrastructure investment typically falls as a share of the economy at the beginning of economic recoveries, the United States has bucked that trend during this recovery. - Announced and awarded Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding is flowing to the states that need it most: states with the lowest-rated infrastructure received more funding per capita than states with the highest-rated infrastructure. - Historically, states with higher household incomes tended to invest more in infrastructure. But the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has helped reverse that pattern, as lower-income states have tended to receive more announced funding per capita. Here's to more success and transformation in the years to come! #transportation #infrastructure #mobility https://lnkd.in/gtz83fQ8

Analysis: Mayors are focusing foremost on infrastructure. Infrastructure appears to be top of mind for mayors, with 37 mayors giving State of the City addresses discussing that subject twice as long as the No. 2 priority, according to a National League of Cities analysis. The league cites the bipartisan infrastructure law for some of that focus, as well as the fact that so much of the nation's infrastructure is overdue for attention.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 25, 2024 / DNC Talking Points - REMINDER: President Biden Is Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure — With No Help From MAGA Republicans As President Biden visits Wisconsin to tout federal infrastructure funding, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: “President Biden kept his promise to repair America’s roads, bridges and transportation while delivering billions to jumpstart clean energy jobs and invest in communities across the country – so it’s no wonder MAGA Republicans want credit for it after fighting to stop it every step of the way. The same extreme Republicans who followed Donald Trump’s lead and voted against President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are now bragging about projects they tried to stop from happening. Trump’s ‘infrastructure week’ was nothing more than a punchline at the expense of everyday Americans who just want their roads fixed, but President Biden is delivering real results to improve the quality of our nation’s transportation networks and invest in next-generation industries for American workers.” Today, President Biden is in Wisconsin to tout billions in federal infrastructure funding that’s already updating roads, bridges, public transit and more in the Badger State — all while investing in industries of the future to do so. Superior Telegram: “Under the Biden-Harris administration, private companies have announced $2 billion so far in commitments to invest in 21st-century industries like clean energy manufacturing, bio-manufacturing, and clean power, according to the White House. “Another $6.3 billion in public infrastructure and clean energy investments in Wisconsin under the Biden administration includes: $3.8 billion for transportation investments in roads, bridges, public transit, ports and airports, as well as electric school and transit buses, electric vehicle charging, and more. $298.9 million for grants, rebates and other initiatives to accelerate the deployment of clean energy, clean buildings and clean manufacturing. This excludes the clean energy tax incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act. $123.8 million to make our communities more resilient to climate change and other threats. $819.1 million to provide clean water across Wisconsin and improve water infrastructure. This includes $129.5M dedicated to lead pipe and service line replacement.” Thanks to President Biden’s leadership, the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is investing billions to update our nation's roads and bridges, renew our transportation networks, and ensure every American has clean drinking water and access to high-speed internet. ###

FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Celebrates Historic Progress in Rebuilding America Ahead of Two-Year Anniversary of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law BRIEFING ROOM - STATEMENTS AND RELEASES Nearly $400 billion in funding and over 40,000 projects across 4,500 communities announced across the country through Bidenomics and President Biden’s Investing in America agenda Two years ago, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – a once-in-a-generation investment in America’s infrastructure and competitiveness. Since then, the Biden-Harris Administration has been breaking ground on projects to rebuild our roads and bridges, deliver clean and safe water, clean up legacy pollution, expand access to high-speed internet, and build a clean energy economy. Through his Investing in America agenda, a core pillar of Bidenomics, President Biden is delivering an “Infrastructure Decade” that is unlocking access to economic opportunity, creating good-paying jobs, boosting domestic manufacturing, and growing America’s economy from the middle up and bottom out – not the top-down. To date, the Administration has announced nearly $400 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding, including over 40,000 specific projects and awards, across over 4,500 communities in all 50 states, D.C the territories, and for Tribes. This comes as House Republicans are turning their backs on American infrastructure – trying to slash funding that would make our transportation safer, more reliable, and more convenient. To highlight the wide-ranging impact of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the White House is also releasing updated state by state fact sheets today, along with an updated map showcasing the more than 40,000 projects and awards identified or now underway. Implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is a key piece of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which has helped drive over $614 billion dollars in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments in the United States since President Biden took office. In particular, there have been major new private sector manufacturing announcements in electric vehicle (EV) charging, EV batteries, rail, buses, and fiberoptic cable manufacturing spurred by infrastructure investments tied to our Made in America policies. These investments are creating millions of good-paying jobs, including a record-high number of jobs in the construction sector. Thanks to the President’s Investing in America agenda — which also includes the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the American Rescue Plan — the Biden-Harris Administration is boosting the economy and delivering for all of America.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently announced that it has allocated $61 billion in Fiscal Year 2024 apportionments for 12 formula programs to support investment in critical infrastructure, including roads, bridges and tunnels, carbon emission reduction, and safety improvements, utilizing funding from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The funds go directly to all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and help them continue the important work of rebuilding our roads and bridges and making the transportation system more efficient. “Long-needed major improvements are coming to America’s network of roads, bridges, and highways,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in the press release announcing the funds. “Thanks to President Biden, we are proud to deliver funding to modernize roads and bridges across America--strengthening our supply chains, creating good-paying jobs, and connecting Americans to every corner of this country.” The IIJA makes the single largest dedicated investment in our transportation infrastructure since the construction of the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s and 1960s. The $61 billion in funding for Fiscal Year 2024 is the third year of funding under the IIJA and represents an increase of $17.6 billion in formula programs as compared to Fiscal Year 2021, the last fiscal year before the IIJA was implemented. “These historic investments in American infrastructure give States the flexibility they need to determine how to allocate funds for a range of transportation projects such as improving safety for all road users, replacing aging bridges, and reducing carbon emissions,” said Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt in the release. “This funding will allow States to continue the important work of President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that is making our infrastructure safer and more efficient for the millions of Americans who rely on it to get to school, work, and other important destinations every day.” Federal-aid Highway Program funds are authorized periodically by Congress in multi-year laws to assist states in providing for construction, reconstruction, and improvement of highways and bridges on eligible Federal-aid routes and for other special purpose programs and projects. The IIJA established or continued FHWA programs and authorized funding for those programs from the Highway Trust Fund and General Fund.

Majority of Georgia’s federal infrastructure dollars going to transportation projects ATLANTA — Funding from the federal $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is making its way to Georgia for initiatives and projects critical to the state's infrastructure. Through early September, $6.7 billion from the 2021 act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, has been announced to head to Georgia with more than 311 specific projects identified for funding, including $4.5 billion for transportation to invest in roads, bridges, public transit, ports and airports. “The impact is going to be quite significant. Instead of closing off those bridges to traffic and instead of people having to purchase new tires from going through potholes on Georgia’s roads or having to get wheel alignments …the damage to cars because of dilapidated roads … we’ll be able to eliminate that with this funding that is generated from the (infrastructure law),” Democratic Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson said. #transportation #GDOT #georgia

Representative Rick Larsen (D-WA), ranking member, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, is a staunch advocate for public transit. It’s clean and convenient for many people, a “lifeline” for still more, and, for Larsen, “It’s better than driving.” Larsen’s praise for public transportation started a View from the Hill session on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) at APTA’s 2024 Legislative Conference and gave emphasis to part of his message: Share transportation success stories with your elected representatives to show current support and create allies for future projects. Public transportation agencies should talk to their legislators often, said Larsen, about how the BIL is working for them, the tangible benefits of transportation, and be “continually communicating about why this is necessary.” “It’s particularly critical now that we think about transit as we move toward—are you ready for this?—for reauthorization of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.” Reauthorization will be a task for the next session of Congress, he said, “And I’m committed to ensuring that we get this reauthorization done, because major investment in infrastructure needs to be the norm and not the exception.” Washington State received more than $8.4 billion in BIL support for 660-plus projects, including, Larsen noted, the consecutive successes of planned bus service increases, prompted by construction of a CIG-funded Sound Transit light rail extension slated to open in August. Larsen also acknowledged some of the challenges for transportation, in the labor and equipment markets, plus the Administration’s policy changes and technical assistance to support struggling agencies. He hoped to make the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee a support, too, seeking input from agencies on what is and isn’t working in policy. In closing, Larsen returned to the message of the value of public transportation, and of transportation agencies advocating for themselves. “I just encourage you all to be part of this communication to all of my colleagues, whether Democratic or Republican, to talk to them about the role that transit plays in people’s lives.” #PublicTransitImpact #APTAleg24

WASHINGTON /Mar 15, 2024 /USDOT -- U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced more than $50 million in grant awards for 34 technology demonstration projects across the country through the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program. The competitive grant program, established by President Biden's historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provides $500 million over five years for State, local, and Tribal governments to leverage advances in technology to create safer, more efficient, and more innovative transportation systems. The projects announced today are a part of the President's Investing in America agenda and encompass locations across 22 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. "The Biden-Harris administration is proud to award $50 million to promising technology projects that have the potential to help Americans travel more safely, affordably, and efficiently," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "Today's funding will help 34 communities across the country advance innovative solutions for better rail crossings, safer road intersections, improved transit accessibility, and more." This is the second year of SMART grant awards, for which the Department received 321 eligible grant applications. "The continued popularity of SMART, building on last year, demonstrates the demand for purpose-driven technology solutions undertaken by State, local, and Tribal agencies. We are thrilled to announce another round of exciting and innovative projects," said Dr. Robert C. Hampshire, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and Chief Science Officer. Selected projects, as demonstrated in this partial list, focus on how various technologies make transportation safer, cleaner, more equitable, and more affordable across the country in both rural and urban settings: Projects including the City of Chattanooga, TN, Charleston, SC, and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation in WA, focus on using connected vehicle and smart roadside sensors to improve safety for drivers, pedestrians, and other road users on urban streets and rural highways. In Wyoming and Maryland, statewide highway projects will address work zone safety for highway crews through data sharing and speed management. Talladega, AL will deploy smart traffic signals and sensors near the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind to detect and protect pedestrians. Projects in Denver, CO and Contra Costa County, CA will streamline and unify dozens of disparate paratransit providers and systems to make them more accessible. Building on last year's uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) grants, two new projects in the southern Allegheny mountains in Pennsylvania and the eastern shore of Maryland will use UAS to deliver emergency and chronic medical supplies to remote areas.

Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced $1.8 billion in awards from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (#RAISE) discretionary grant program for 148 projects across the country. Today’s announcement brings the total amount of Biden-Harris Administration RAISE grants to more than $7.2 billion for over 550 projects across the country. “After decades of underinvestment, the condition of America’s infrastructure is now finally getting better instead of worse – and today we proudly announce our support for 148 more projects in communities of every size across the country,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re funding projects across the country to make roads safer, make it easier for people to move around their community, make #transportation #infrastructure more resilient to #extremeweather, and improve supply chains to keep costs down for consumers.” The competitive and popular RAISE program, which was authorised $1.5 billion a year on top of already appropriated funds thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, supports a diverse slate of communities with projects of local and regional significance. Funding is split equally between urban and rural areas, and a large percentage of grants support regions defined as historically disadvantaged or areas of persistent poverty. The eligibility requirements of RAISE allow project sponsors, including state and local governments, counties, Tribal governments, transit agencies, and port authorities, to pursue multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional projects that are more difficult to fund through other grant programs. RAISE discretionary grants invest in critical freight and passenger transportation infrastructure projects that would otherwise not receive the funding needed if not for President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. RAISE is a keystone program of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, rebuilding and repairing critical infrastructure using #American-made materials and spurring historic levels of private sector investment in regions around the country. Investing in key transportation infrastructure initiatives through programs like RAISE is growing the economy from the middle out and bottom up, lowering costs for families, and creating good-paying, union jobs for American workers in their home communities. As in years past, the demand for RAISE funding outpaced available funds, with the Department receiving almost $13 billion in requests for the $1.8 billion available this year.

Today marks two years since President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, a once-in-a-generation investment to modernize America’s infrastructure. Since then, the law has delivered approximately $7.9 billion to Washington state, including $5.3 billion for nearly 1,200 transportation projects. 🗺 Check out the interactive map for a snapshot of transportation and infrastructure projects across Washington state that received BIL funds in the last two years, including highway, road, port, airport, ferry and culvert projects.⬇ “The infrastructure law continues to give Washington's growing economy a big boost. 57 of our state’s airports received money to upgrade their service. $7.9 billion and 1,200 projects later, we have kickstarted much-needed improvements to our roads, bridges, and transit lines to help move Washington’s products and people faster and more safely. Federal investments in broadband infrastructure keep driving down the cost of internet and improving services for thousands of Washingtonians," said Chair U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell. https://lnkd.in/eAqpX_N7